Introducing the UArctic Chair Roland Kallenborn
Professor Roland Kallenborn from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) and UNIS is appointed UArctic Chair in Arctic Environmental Pollution Research for the next five years.
4 February 2022
Press release from the UArctic
Professor Roland Kallenborn is a senior scientist and university teacher in the field of organic analytical chemistry, environmental chemistry, and environmental risk assessment. Kallenborn is also affiliated as adjunct professorship in Arctic Technology to the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS) and as external supervisor for graduate and post graduate students, to the Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT, China).
– The steadily increasing number of priority pollutants in the Arctic requires new analytical methods and detection strategies. The UArctic network will help to coordinate and harmonize current international efforts to investigate today’s pollutant profiles in the Arctic, says Kallenborn.
As UArctic chair for Environmental pollution research, Kallenborn will focus on developing circum-Arctic academic networks for graduate and post -graduate education of future experts in Arctic environmental chemistry. His scientific focus will be on fata and distribution profiling of organic Arctic pollutants including Chemicals of Emerging Arctic Concern (CEACs).
Aim to minimize exposure risks
As a renowned environmental chemist, Kallenborn’s main research is in the field of method development for ultra-trace quantitative analysis, risk assessment, and mitigation of organic environmental pollutants (including contaminants of emerging concern and their transformation products). This also includes the elucidation of pollutant profiles in Arctic environments. He applies modern advanced trace analytical methods in an interdisciplinary context in his research strategies.
– Reliable research on fate and distribution pathways of CEACs is only possible in the Arctic Environment with advanced, highly sensitive quantification methods. These investigations aim at identifying and minimizing potential exposure risks for people living in the Arctics, says Kallenborn.
The professor is currently involved in interdisciplinary research in fate, risks, and distribution profiles of environmental pollutants in pristine and contaminated Arctic environments. For his research he collaborates with experts in chemistry, biology, physics, modelling, toxicology, and veterinary medicine.
Kallenborn is author/ co-author of 130 peer reviewed publications, 12 books/ monographs (author, chapter author and editor), 20 contract reports, 10 popular science papers and more than 300 presentations (poster/ oral) in international conferences and seminars. He serves as editor/ editorial board member for the IF registered scientific Journals “Current Chromatography”, “Fresenius Environmental Bulletin”, “Ecotoxicology and Chemistry”, “Environmental Science and Pollution Research” (Springer) and “Chemosphere” (Elsevier).
About UArctic Chairs
UArctic Chairs are highly qualified academics who serve as academic drivers in a broad area of relevance to the Arctic. They implement and drive collaborative actions in research and education among UArctic members and Thematic Networks and build partnerships with the broader Arctic community.
About UArctic
The University of the Arctic (UArctic) is a cooperative network of universities, colleges, research institutes and other organizations concerned with education and research in and about the North. UArctic builds and strengthens collective resources and collaborative infrastructure that enables member institutions to better serve their constituents and their regions. Through cooperation in education, research and outreach we enhance human capacity in the North, promote viable communities and sustainable economies, and forge global partnerships.
Created through the Arctic Council, UArctic is committed to upholding its principles of sustainable development as well as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. UArctic is constituted as an international association based in Finland.